"Until the day breathes and the shadows flee" (Song of Songs 2:17). Israel in exile asks: how long? The kingdoms that rule over them are the shadows — empire after empire, each casting its own darkness. And God's answer, through the Song of Songs, is: until dawn breaks. Not "never." Not "you deserve this." Until dawn.
The rabbis trace Israel's question through the Psalms: "How long will I harbor counsel within my soul, agony in my heart all day?" (Psalm 13:3). This is not faithlessness. This is the honest prayer of a people who know they were promised a dawn and are still sitting in darkness. The psalm asks for a time limit. God gives one — but not a date. A condition: the moment of redemption is the moment the shadows lift, and the shadows lift when the light overcomes them.
Song of Songs runs through Aggadat Bereshit like a thread, repeatedly invoked for its image of two lovers separated and awaiting reunion. The rabbis read the Song as Israel's love song to God — exile is the separation, redemption is the beloved's return. "Until the day breathes" is not a passive waiting. It is an orientation — every day turned toward the dawn, every prayer another step toward morning. God promised the dawn. The question is whether Israel will still be facing east when it arrives.